"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." ~ Thomas Jefferson

Monday, November 20, 2006

Rangel Calls For Reinstatement Of The Draft

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y said on Sunday that he supported reinstating the draft and will propose such measures early next year. Rangel has proposed conscription in the past which has obviously been unsuccessful.

"There's no question in my mind that this president and this administration would never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that was presented to the Congress, if indeed we had a draft and members of Congress and the administration thought that their kids from their communities would be placed in harm's way," Rangel said.

Rangal has called for reinstatement of the draft, stating that because of an all volunteer military wartime burden is often disproportionately placed on lower income and minority families.

Rangal and as many others who please to do so can call for reinstating the draft.

But I view it as something that should not even be considered unless there is a ground invasion in the continental United States or if the United States must face a dangerous state or military power that far outnumbers our own.

Young men and woman are not very likely to join the military if the country is at war and they do not support the policy of the war.

Trying to force young men and woman into war after a draft has been reinstated will only cause unrest and animosity among the youth in the nation as soon as they realize what is happening.

Rangals idea that the draft is somehow a deterrent to politicians who like to wage fruitless wars is absurd.

In wars that were fought in the past wave after wave of young men were sent off to die and the fact that the military was mandatory rather than volunteer only encouraged leaders to send more human beings off to die because they had a large pool of people to send.

Now that the military is volunteer only there is a limited amount of troops you can send and only so many wars you can wage at once, therefore it impedes upon the leadership that seeks to wage or prolong unjustified or unsupported wars, so it is necessary.

The idea of being plucked out of my home and being told I had to fight in Bush's insane Iraq War infuriates me. The idea that it is a supposed Democrat who is proposing such a forceful idea only infuriates me more.

Yes, let's give the cronies in Washington D.C. all the civilians they need to convert into soldiers to go unwillingly fight in their holy war extravaganza they helped manufacture over there in the Middle East.

Rangal can state all day long that he wants to reinstate the draft to "prevent" politicians from waging wars, but I see reinstating the draft as a way to give politicians more ammunition for their wars, rather than preventing them.

I am willing to fight for my country if my country is being assailed and I need to protect my homeland. I will fight for my country if we are ever faced with a real world power with military and technology comparable to our own.

But I will not go willingly if you are asking me to attempt to "liberate" a country that is being ravaged by civil war when the people apparently don't even want to be "liberated" by me and my very presence seems to only be hurting the civilians rather than helping them.

However, there is little reason to fear because Rangal has tried to reinstate the draft before and has failed and will most likely fail again.

"Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day." ~ Thomas Jefferson

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